WEBVTT - Elon High, Class of '24 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:08.600 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.000 Well, Elon Musk gives now the richest person on the planet. 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.200 More than half the satellites in space are owned and 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.239 controlled by one man. 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:27.360 Starting his own artificial intelligence company. 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:31.120 Well, he's a legitimate, super genius, legitimate, he says. 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.720 He's always voted for Democrats, but this year it will 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:34.200 be different. 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:35.159 He'll vote Republican. 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:37.879 There is a reason the US government is so reliant 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:38.360 on him. 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:41.400 Elon Musk is a scam artist and he's done nothing enough. 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:45.479 Anything he does, he's fascinating the people. 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.080 Welcome to Elon Inc. Bloomberg's weekly podcast about Elon Musk. 0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:00.000 I'm your host, Max Chapkin, and as promise, we're backquus 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:03.560 second time this week with a very special episode. We 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.759 talk all the time on this podcast about the ways 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:10.280 that Elon Musk runs his companies differently from what you 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.840 might think of as a normal business. It's not just 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:16.360 that he works crazy hours. It's not just that he 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:19.440 makes outrageous demands on his employees or carries his toddler 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.880 around like a good luck charm. It's also reflected in 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:26.559 the actual setup of these companies, the way that people 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:29.280 who work for Elon relate to one another. What it 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:33.720 is is everybody reports to Elon. Ultimately, he is the 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:37.640 sun and everybody around him revolves around him. And you know, 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.039 this has all kinds of implications for all of his companies, 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:44.880 none of which are normal. And happily Bloomberg just published 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:47.560 an infographic that kind of explains all of this. It's 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:51.720 a beautiful piece of reporting and visualization that lays out 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.920 the weird relationships that surround the thing that we have 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:59.280 been calling Elon Inc. The universe of Elon Musk's companies. 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.680 And you know, happily for us, two of the reporters 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.840 who put this together, the two lead reporters to put 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.560 this together, are regulars on this very podcast. Dana Hall, 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:12.480 Bloomberg's Elon Musk correspondent, is joining us to discuss it. Hello, 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:17.880 Dana hey Hey and Kurt Wagner are social media reporter 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.000 and regular on this show. Kurt, Welcome to Elon Inc. 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:22.720 I wouldn't miss it. Thank you. 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:25.680 And because this is a very special episode, we have 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:29.040 a very special guest, Katie at Topolus, who covers tech 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.000 and culture for business insiders. Here. Katie welcome. 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:33.560 Thank you so much for having me. I like to 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:35.839 think of myself as the cat turd two of threats. 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:41.280 So Dana, let's start with you just tell us about 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.480 what this graphic is trying to accomplish. And for people 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:47.320 who haven't looked at it, you really should pause a 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.880 podcast and look at it, because it's an amazing sort 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:55.200 of picture, amazing visualization. It's constructed around a solar system. 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.520 Why a solar system, Dana. 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:59.600 Yeah, So the idea for this was, like, you know, 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.880 people always asking how can Elon Musk run six companies simultaneously? 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.639 Who else works for him? Like, is there a way 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.880 that we could do like a visual representation of the 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.960 org chart at all of his companies? And I think 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.440 instead of thinking of it as like a linear org 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.040 chart like the people who run X or X dot 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.440 AI or SpaceX or Tesla, you really do have to 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:24.160 think of it as a solar system, with Elon as 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.640 like the very bright burning sun, and then this constellation 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.359 of companies around him that are kind of circling him. 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.239 And then around the companies you've got space junk, you've 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.600 got satellites, you've got meteors, you've got certain people that 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:39.720 kind of like bop around between the planets, and so 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.520 that was kind of our visual framework, and I think 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.280 it worked out really well. Anyone who's covered Elon for 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.640 a long period of time knows that there are certain 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.240 characters who just emerge over and over and over again. 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.640 And while some of these names might be familiar to listeners, 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.040 others are not, and you should really get to know 0:03:57.440 --> 0:03:57.960 who they are. 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:02.440 Kurt, how did you you report through this? It's not 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:04.520 like you can just look this stuff up on the internet, 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:07.960 not like a normal company, Like how does anyone How 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.320 does a reporter or even like someone who works for 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.880 Elon musk figure out like who matters at a given 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:15.880 company or within this universe. 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.320 It's a challenge because, as you point out, they don't 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.000 just simply say here's the executive team on a lot 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.800 of these websites, certainly not with X, which is what 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.920 I cover most closely. So I mean it really comes 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.599 down to like shoe leather reporting, right, like trying to 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:31.880 talk to people who are inside these companies, trying to 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.720 figure out, hey, you know, when a finance decision is 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:35.440 being made, like. 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:36.760 Where does that go to? 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.360 Who's sort of the final you know, approver of that 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:42.760 or also just like following Elon's posts. Sometimes, you know, 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.520 he'll either post a photo or video and you'll see 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:47.800 people like lingering in the background and be like, oh wow, 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:50.719 I didn't realize that that person was like involved in 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:53.479 that thing or company, right, And so it's really just 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.680 good old fashioned reporting. And I think the challenge is 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.799 people move around often as we get through this cushion. 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:02.480 You'll like Tesla executives who are now over at X 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:04.680 or SpaceX, folks who are now at Boring Company or 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:07.039 whatever it may be. And so just sort of keeping 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.760 up to speed with like the who's there at that 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:12.360 moment can be really tough. But generally we have a 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:15.679 pretty good idea of you know, as Dana mentioned, who's 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:17.440 orbiting Elon at any given time. 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:20.919 Did you two have this like in your head already 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:23.120 before you worked on this project, and was it a 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:24.440 solar system or a different metaphor? 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:26.719 I can speak for covering Tesla. I've always kept an 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:30.120 ORG chart because it changes so quickly. And you know what, 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.159 I think it's wild about Tesla. If you look at 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.719 their website, there's nothing about people. It's all about the products. 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.200 It's all about the cars or the robot or the 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.640 promise of autonomy or you know, the megapax, like there 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.600 is nothing about people on that website at all. And 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:48.480 Tesla has you know, over one hundred and twenty thousand 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:52.040 employees globally and they just have three named executive officers. 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:56.040 So just figuring out the delta like okay, like besides 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.960 the three named people on securities filings? Who else is 0:05:58.960 --> 0:05:59.960 actually like running the show? 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:00.120 Oh? 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.560 Is just this constant challenge. And you know, I think 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:05.880 any reporter who covers the company always kind of has 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:07.440 the ORG chart in mind. A lot of it is 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:10.279 like asking our sources that are still at the company, 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.120 like has the ORG chart change? Like what are you seeing? 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:15.520 Like I heard this executive left? Are they gone? Are 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:17.760 they back? Like are they on a leave of absence? 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.920 Like it's it's always very very fluid, and I think that, yeah, 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:22.359 like a solar system speaks to that. 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.680 These names, like I'm guessing you don't you're not covering 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:28.839 elon mus day to day, so you don't know them all, 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.000 but I'm guessing many of them are familiar to you because, 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.000 like Kurt kind of hinted at this, a lot of 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.200 this stuff is like playing out on social media, Like 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.679 some of these relationships we know about because they're tweeting 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:40.279 at one another. 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:42.240 Yeah, exactly. You can see it play out. 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:44.039 And there's also a little bit of an element of 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.920 like some of these figures have sort of moved from 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:49.840 one phase of his life or one company to another. 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.040 They sort of are intertwined. It's not just he has 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:54.680 a bunch of companies and these are the people that 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:57.400 work at them. Like there's sort of these satellite floaters 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.080 coming in. It's almost like sort of keeping track of 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.120 who's dating who on vander Pumper roles. 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:03.640 Well, I was just going to ask you, like, does 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.360 his sort of universe of influence look like a celebrities, 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:09.840 you know, universe of influence or does it look different 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:11.720 or just kind of curious how you think about the 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:16.880 Elon community compared to other similar communities of influence or whatever. 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:20.000 So I think kind of the best real window into 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.640 this that we ever had was that moment during the 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:25.880 chancery court lawsuit when he was trying to get out 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:27.720 of buying Twitter, where all of a sudden all his 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:31.040 text messages were revealed and you got to kind of 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:34.600 see how he interacts with these other people that he 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.000 either works with or has a friendship with or a 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:41.720 quasi business relationship with, and how much like they suck 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:45.400 up to him, and like there's such a weird power 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.400 imbalance and dynamic. It's not exactly like a boss. It's 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:50.640 not exactly like a friend. There's a really weird like 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:54.000 sycophantic thing going on, and that kind of feels like, 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.560 you know what you might imagine from like Entourage or 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.280 something where like someone has these kind of yes men 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:01.200 and these hangers on. 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.640 That list of text messages. As Kurt also knows, it's 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:06.960 like the Rosetta Stone of like, you know, if you 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.400 want to understand Elon, that that it has, it contains 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:12.840 like everything you need to know. I think, Kurt, I'm 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.560 curious if you ever get questions from like Twitter employees 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:17.720 asking like how to get in touch with various people 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.520 in Elon's orbit, Like do people who work for him 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:21.680 understand this empire? 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.600 I don't think so, certainly, not off the top of 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.000 their heads. I think like at a certain level of 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:30.880 closeness to Elon, you know you probably obviously like the 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.679 higher up the food chain you are, the more exposure 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:34.959 you have to this kind of thing. But I think 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:38.520 like the everyday rank and file sort of employees. Certainly 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.080 at X, I don't think they're necessarily aware of the 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:43.920 you know, broad orbit here. And part of that is because, 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:45.600 like I can tell you, it was a little bit 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:48.280 hard to put together on our end, right, Like it 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.960 required like I said, like real reporting, real phone calls, 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.959 real going out and asking people is certainly with the 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.360 X side. I remember talking to folks like all right, well, 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:58.079 like who's in charge of product? And they were sort 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.920 of like, well, it's not like entire early clear, but 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.800 we think it's this person. But like sometimes decisions are 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.280 made over here. And so my point being is that 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:10.080 it's not a very transparent system, and I think some 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:12.280 of that is by design. I think some of that 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.520 is just what happens when you have six different companies 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.480 plus all of the extra you know, entourage that Elon 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:21.920 comes with on any given day. It's just like, this 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.760 is not a normal thing. And even other billionaires, like 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:27.920 I was thinking, okay, Mark Zuckerberg is another person I 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:31.199 covered very closely obviously as a huge you know, group 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.920 of advisors, people who are close to him, Like if 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:35.240 we were to do this with him, it would be 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:36.880 much easier, in part because he's. 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:38.680 Just running one company. He's running one. 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:41.920 Business, like the six businesses thing is really what makes this, 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.360 I think, such a unique scenario and also makes it 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.920 hard to kind of understand the org chart from the 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:48.520 ground floor. 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.800 Yeah, just jumping on that. Are there legal or ethical 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.760 questions raised by this? The weirdness here? I mean the 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.319 fact that you potentially have, say, like a Tesla's a 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.920 public company, you potentially have a Tesla employer being dragged 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.520 off into some other part of Elon's empire, or being 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.160 asked to work on a maybe even a personal project 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.880 for him or something like that. Is that something that 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.080 creates pitfalls? Legal pitfalls, ethical pitfalls, that sort of thing. 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.400 Oh, oh sure, I mean it's a big part of 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:19.000 the whole like fight over Musk's twenty eighteen compensation package, right, 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.000 Like you have shareholders and you know, smaller investors, a 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.559 lot of pension funds, being like, this is a part 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:28.560 time CEO, he has never paid full attention to our company, 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.800 and if anything, like he's just doing more and more 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.680 crazy things and starting newer and newer companies and like 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:38.240 borrowing Peter to pay Paul and like using Tesla resources 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.640 to help prop up his other companies. I mean, now 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:44.360 Tesla is advertising on X and you know, I think 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.520 the thing to remember is that Tesla is the only 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.439 public company out of the six. The other five are 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.600 all privately held, and so Tesla has to test to 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.360 disclose and its proxy all the ways in which these 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:58.679 companies relate, like they share the corporate jet, like they 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.080 share security, and so just the whole fact that that 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.760 Tesla resources are used for other parts of the empire 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.880 is a big concern. The question is, like, leney whatever, 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:15.920 do anything about it? So far, the board certainly hasn't. 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:20.240 All right, Let's move on the Elon universe. As we're explaining, 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:24.320 it's a very complex cosmos, very hard for somebody who 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.400 isn't studying this closely to understand, which and you know, 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:29.360 that's a big problem because Elon is an important guy 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:31.600 with a lot of money. So it makes sense of this. 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.040 To get some more insight into this world, we're going 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:37.600 to use one of the great tools of American journalism, 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:42.720 the senior Superlative List. Now, for those of you who 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:46.560 have not gone to an American high school, or have 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:50.600 not watched a movie involving one, or just forgot what 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:54.080 it's like. Basically at the end of the year, a 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.680 committee of students puts together a yearbook, which is a 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.319 book with two covers on either side that has all 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:03.480 the names of the students and there's usually a several 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:07.360 page full color section in which the students vote on 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.640 who has the best hair, the best smile, and so on. 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.400 And so for this panel, we're all gonna pretend to 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.120 be editors of a high school yearbook and we're going 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:22.240 to choose the superlatives for the members of the Elon Universe. Now, 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:25.080 ahead of the show, just tell everyone, I asked everyone 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:28.760 to send me their senior superlatives for the for the 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:32.240 Elon Musk Universe. I've collected them here and I will 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.280 moderate this discussion and try to rain everybody in. And 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:37.640 before we do that, I need to ask, was anybody 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:41.319 on this panel a senior superlative? And if so, which 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:42.760 what was your superlative? 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:47.160 Katie, I was, and I actually had two. I was 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.239 class clown and most funfilled. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:51.760 Wow. 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:54.920 I was just the editor of the yearbook, so I 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.680 didn't get a superlative, but I put the yearbook together. 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.400 Well, Dan, that's great. I mean, I'm so happy that 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:04.640 you are here with us to keep me honest, Kurt. 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:08.400 Yeah, this is sort of embarrassing, but you know why not. 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:13.360 I got first place and third place in the Cutest 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:19.199 Couple competition. I got first place with my actual girlfriend 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:21.400 and I got third place with my best friend who 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:23.960 I spent a lot of time hanging out with and 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:27.679 we played football together, and apparently everyone thought we made 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:29.760 a nice couple as well. So I was taking home 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.520 multiple prizes, which is pretty impressive. 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:36.640 Yeah, so mine was, like, I think it was best 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.640 all Around, which sounds like a really good category, but 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.360 I actually think it's like a maybe bit of a 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.760 burn and just because it's like you don't have anything 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.719 to offer. So anyway, we're gonna start with kind of 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.400 a classic, maybe not as classic as class clown, but 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:57.800 a classic senior superltive category. Life of the Party Katie 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:00.280 and Atopolas. Who is the life of the party in 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:01.440 Elon Musk's universe. 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:05.960 I so my vote is for his brother, Kimball Musk, 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:08.640 and for a very straightforward reason, which is that he's 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.240 a chef and like I'm sure he throws a great party, 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:12.080 he can actually cook. 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:14.600 I mean, I completely agree with that. 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.760 He also seems like he's a guy who loves to party. 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.120 He likes some party. Dana, Kurt, what do we make 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.440 of Kimball? Do you how do you rate him on 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:24.640 the life of the party scale? And who was your 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:25.360 life at the party? 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:27.440 I think that's a fun pick. 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.600 I think my life of the party choice was Elon himself, 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.160 which was, to be clear, the only time I picked 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:36.880 Elon because I know we're mostly talking about his crew here. 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.600 It seems like Elon, you know, is maybe dabbling in 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:40.880 some extracurriculars. 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:42.160 And I think. 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.880 Kimball and Elon seem like, you know, two brothers who 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.480 tend to maybe get in trouble together from time to time, 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.360 and as far as long term consequences go, I'm not 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.040 sure that's best. But for one night life of the party? 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:54.360 Sure? 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:54.960 Why not? 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.120 Dan? I know this has falls under the normal description 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:00.120 of your job, But who was your life of the party. 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.600 Alex Spiro, Elon's lawyer, I mean, you know, like fast 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:05.840 talking New Yorker. I don't know. Maybe I think he 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.160 lives in Miami now, but he's at all these big trials, 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.920 right he defended Elon during the Pedo Guy trial. He 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:15.960 like is just front and center. He's always filing these 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:18.400 crazy motions late on a Friday night, Like I get 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.680 these pacer alerts and there's an alex Buro motion. And 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.040 if you're a guy like Elon Musk and you're involved 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:25.960 in a lot of litigation and you want to have 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:29.720 a hardcore litigation team, you kind of need like a 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:30.560 fun lawyer. 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.880 These are all good choices. But this is grimes erasure. Everybody. 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:47.800 I think we all know. Okay, we did it. Okay, 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.640 let me compose myself. Everyone knows that Grimes is the 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:57.720 life of the party as well. All right, best dressed, Dana. 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.520 You had Franz von Holds, who sounds like a well 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.560 dressed guy, but remind us like who he is, and 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:06.240 you know kind of why you put him. 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:10.600 Yeah, So, Franz is Tesla's chief designer. He lives in La. 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:13.560 I actually saw him in person recently. I flew down 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.080 to the Peterson Automotive Museum in la and it was 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.240 just such a wild seed. It was like a Sunday morning. 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:21.400 They were having this evy event at the museum on 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.440 the roof and Franz rolled up in his cyber truck 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:27.440 and emerged from the cyber truck wearing like a black 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:30.000 T shirt and jeans and like some kind of like 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:32.960 high end high top basketball shoes, and he had on 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.400 like eighty eater sunglasses and he was just mobbed by 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.880 people wanting his autograph. And it was kind of like 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:42.000 a good reminder that, like, you know, Elon obviously has 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.360 like tons of fans, but other people within his orbit 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:47.920 are sort of celebrities in their own right, and Franz 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:49.000 is definitely this way. 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.320 So we had some other good good picks here. Katie 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:54.680 had Linda Yakarino, who I want to save for our 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.440 next category. Kurt had May Musk, Elon Musk's mom, who's 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:03.200 a professional model, professionally well dressed. All right, this is 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:08.160 like I think my favorite category, school spirit. Kurt, most 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:09.800 school spirit? Who is your pick? 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:16.200 I picked ex CEO Linda Yakarino as the most school spirit. 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.719 I think you see, you know, her out there pumping 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:21.800 up Elon, and I think you see her out there 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:26.600 pumping up X seemingly totally behind him and everything that 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.560 he says and tweets, like, she just seems like his 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.000 big cheerleader, right and if and if the school, if 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:34.159 we're at the School of Elon, I just get the 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:37.720 sense that Linda's is really bought in. It's interesting because 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:41.720 like he makes her job so hard, Like he tweets things, 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:46.440 he says things that make you know, selling X's business 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:49.320 so so so hard, and yet there she is rooting 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:51.080 him on at every step, and so I had to 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:51.680 give this to her. 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:53.320 We have a little tabe of this. Let's let's let's 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:55.080 give it a listen X. 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:58.920 We need to keep our minds open that it's developing 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:03.399 into this globebal town square that is fueled by free 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:07.760 expression where the public gathers in real time. 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:11.760 You know, Linda, she's leading the fencing team pep rally, 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.160 She's there cheering on the math team. She is all 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.679 about X, and like, I have to think that's like 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:22.720 a self preservation tactic. But it does make me wonder, 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:26.840 like if this is a guide to like how you 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.080 if you like report up to Elon Musk. I guess 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:30.080 this is what you have to do. 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:34.120 I think that the key to surviving at Musk's companies, 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:37.720 if you're up high is you either have incredibly deft 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:40.000 emotional intelligence and you know how to manage him with 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.119 like the right level of like synco fancy and like 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:47.080 obedience or you like somehow dodge him and you stay 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:50.000 out of his line of fire, which is not always easy. 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:52.840 I mean, I think I had originally thought maybe someone else, 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:56.440 but I'm completely swayed by Kurt here. I'm voting Linda too. 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.880 And I think that like what really embodies the schools 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:02.320 the sort of the person who's like, these are the 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.320 best days of our lives, like remember this, like so exciting, 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:08.080 like you have to sign my yearbook, Like that's the 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:10.560 school streat. I think that there was this moment when 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:11.720 she sort of first took over. 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:15.159 At X of like did she know what she was 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:15.800 getting into? 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:17.359 Did she take this because she thought it was just 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:19.320 gonna be a fun job and now it's a nightmare? 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:21.080 Like does she regret this? 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.119 And there were sort of reports that she was getting 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:25.159 text and phone calls from people she had worked with 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:27.560 back at NBC being like get out now before you 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:28.720 like ruin your reputation. 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:30.879 And then there were sort of more reporting that came out. 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:33.360 It's like, no, she really is just like a true believer, 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:38.560 like she absolutely believes it. She's in like full you know, 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:40.600 full cent, she's she's in. 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:46.160 These are the best years of our lives. Yeah, all right, 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:50.120 class clown Katie on top list class clown of her 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.040 of her senior class, who is a class clown of 0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:54.840 Elon's senior class. 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:58.080